Drunken Shrimp
One of the easiest wok recipes on Kitchen Tapestry, but arguably one of the best. As complex in flavor as it is simple to make. It's my Number One Fan's Fave!
The Frugal Gourmet 1984
This shrimp dish was a recipe from his Jeff Smith’s first cookbook, The Frugal Gourmet (1984). He called it "Shrimp With Gin." I thought that was a rather mundane name for a dish, so I renamed it. I also use a lot more gin than the original recipe. And I use cleaned and shelled shrimp. Smith's original recipe called for leaving the shells on. I have never made it that way because that sounds like more work than dinner.
This is an easy recipe and it is really, really good. I used to go through the work of getting fresh shrimp, and then cleaning, shelling and de-veining the shrimp. Tiger shrimp worked really well using this method. Looking for less work in my advancing years, I now buy the flash frozen uncooked, shelled and cleaned shrimp carried in our neighborhood grocery store.
The size of a shrimp is indicated by the number of shrimp per pound. The smaller the number, the larger the shrimp. Less than 15 (sometimes labeled "U-15s") is jumbo shrimp; 16 to 20 is extra-large shrimp; 21 to 30 is large shrimp; and 31 to 40 is medium shrimp. I generally buy the 16-20s.
One thing you cannot scrimp on is the grated fresh ginger. There is no substitution and I've tried dried, pickled and everything in-between. You simply have to put up with buying a fresh ginger root, and then grate it using a cheese-grater. The good news is that you do not need to peel the ginger root. You'll find that the grating process using a cheese-grater will separate the ginger peel from the pulp very well.
Drunken Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup peanut oil
- 1 tbsp fine seas salt dissolved in the oil
- 2 tbsp garlic, minced, mixed in the oil
- 2 pounds of shrimp, peeled, de-veined with tails removed
- 1/2 cup fresh grated ginger root
- 6-7 green onions, cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup light soy sauce (like, Kikkoman Less Sodium)
- 1- 1/2 cups premium London dry gin (like Blue Coat)
Instructions
- Like any good wok chef, prepare all your ingredients ahead of time so they are at the ready and within arms reach before you begin, known in French cooking terminology as Mis en Place.
- Heat the wok over high heat then put in the peanut oil with the salt and garlic. Cook the garlic for a about a minute, using your chaun to stir constantly so as to not burn it.
- Add the shrimp an continue to stir fry until the shrimp turns pink.
- Add the ginger root and onions and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes until the onions collapse.
- Add the soy sauce.
- Remove the wok from the heat and add the gin. Return wok to the heat, and allow the liquid to reduce a bit, but not too much, about 3-4 minutes.
- Remove the dish to a serving bowl and hold in a 200-degree oven until ready to serve. It is highly recommended that you serve this dish in a small bowl with lots of the sauce.
Notes
- Frozen shrimp thaw very quickly in a colander under cold running water, turning and tossing the shrimp frequently to get its cold water shower.
- Do this about 30 minutes prior to cooking, then wrap the shrimp in paper towels and put in the refrigerator to dry out before using.
